OXNARD — El Centrito Family Learning Centers is launching its 2014 STEAM Academy, which offers hands-on learning opportunities that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Mathematics (STEAM).
The STEAM Summer Camp will serve 75 students in grades 3 through 8 and will run through Aug. 8, officials reported in a media release. Students in the camp will be challenged to work together to solve real-world problems using critical thinking skills and creativity. At the end of the six-week summer program, students will showcase and share their discoveries with the whole community. El Centrito has secured investments for its STEAM Academy from key partners, including $48,000 from the City of Oxnard’s Measure ‘O’ Youth Enrichment Program; $15,000 through the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a McCormick Foundation Fund; and $7,500 from the Kelkar Family Endowment.
“We are honored to partner with such a diverse group of funders,” El Centrito Board Vice President Juanita Scott stated in the release. “We are proud to be a key player in our community’s efforts to create a thriving workforce where families can prosper.”
With the need to invest in effective STEAM education crucial to the nation’s economic growth, the academy contributes to efforts to fill the job-skill gap identified by the county’s Workforce Investment Board and supports efforts to boost preparedness in the identified priority sectors of “allied health, green jobs, and tech-based manufacturing.” The City of Oxnard has stated its priority to “make its workforce much more competitive” and El Centrito’s STEAM Academy contributes to that effort, officials reported.
The After School STEAM Academy will begin at the end of August and operate throughout the school year and will serve students from 2:30 to 6 p.m. daily.
For more information, or to enroll a student in the STEAM Academy, visit www.elcentrito.org or contact STEAM Academy Program Coordinator Sonia Marroquin at 805-483-8685.